The Botany View Hotel’s King Street Crawl show on Sunday night was a gathering of some of the best-loved garage bands in the country, including Skegss, Dumb Punts, and The Gooch Palms, but it ended on an unfortunate note after security allegedly got overly aggressive.
Speaking to The Music, Dumb Punts guitarist and vocalist James Gallagher said the performance was peaceful and the crowd was in good spirits until security at the Sydney venue became aggressive and the police had to be called, putting an end to the gig.
According to Gallagher, Skegss bassist Toby Two String had been drumming on stage with Dumb Punts. When he attempted to re-enter the mosh, Gallagher claims security “pretty much chokeholded him to the ground”.
“I jumped down to help him out and I got pulled out and s**t just hit the fan,” Gallagher told The Music. “Security were being f***wits, [they’re] a bunch of peanuts with no interest in what’s happening in their venue.”
Police reportedly attended the venue at around 8.30pm after “a security guard was assaulted”, though Gallagher claims the crowd was peaceful and began singing Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as a form of protest.
“The manager closed the venue; however those in the premises failed to leave and officers from Newtown Local Area Command were called,” police told The Music. According to punter Jacob Boyd-Skinner, “all of the aggression was coming directly from the guards”.
“Another classic example of Sydney’s shocking security guards!! Last night the [Botany View Hotel] got shut down during the [King Street Crawl]. The crowd was fed up with a bunch of overly aggressive security guards who were annoyed that they were getting BUMPED AS THEY WALKED THROUGH THE MOSH!” he wrote on Instagram.
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“The show was stopped after Dumb Punts lead singer jumped off the stage to stop a member of the crowd being bashed by security guards! The crowd ran a non-violent sit-in and screaming the Twisted Sister classic ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’.”
“Everyone was having a fun time and all of the aggression was coming directly from the guards. Ultimately the bar was shut, police were called an the lights were turned on. Thanks to WOD and Dumb Punts for continuing the show after the plug was pulled!”
Image: Jacob Boyd-Skinner / Instagram
